Thursday, 29 August 2013

Mofongo, authored by Cecilia
Samartin, is a beautifully written novel that explores the bond between a young
boy and his grandmother. Sebastian has a heart condition that leaves him small
for his age and unable to participate in normal physical activities with his
peers. Always sheltered and treated differently, it is only after his beloved
grandmother suffers a stroke and experiences her own life changes that
Sebastian begins to explore life more and discovers a strength he didn’t know
he had. Already close to his abuela (grandmother), they forge a strong bond
over a love of cooking after school. The only word I can find to accurately
describe my thoughts about this book is beautiful. The story is rich and filled
with delicious descriptions of meals from Puerto Rico, stories from the island
and the love a young boy has for life as he learns to live it. At times sad but
most often heart-warming, this is one of those stories that gives you a warm
feeling inside. Sebastian is a loveable little guy who has the reader cheering
him on from the start. It’s hard to put down so it is a fast read and very
enjoyable. I’m so glad I had the chance to enjoy Mofongo.

This is a wonderful book that hit close to home for me. I worked with kids with special needs for years and loved it. I worked with a young boy with autism for 5 years and he taught me so much, in particular how to be patient. The character in this book made me think of my years with him.

The
Watchman, written by Matt Langford, is an excellent book that takes a look at
how a sixteen year old boy with mental disabilities perceives the world around
him. Although Adam’s special need is never really divulged it is quite easy to
figure it out if you’re familiar with it at all. The author has incredible
insight into how Adam’s mind works and he gives very plausible reasons for the
sometimes seemingly violent actions that Adam performs. Adam hears words in a
different way than the rest of us do and this is often used in the book which,
for me, made it hard to understand a couple of words and their meanings. This
became a bit difficult because one of the words was Adam’s favorite drink and I
still have no idea what it is. The title of the book refers to Adam’s need to
hold a “watch” many times each day so he can observe the family and community’s
comings and goings. Crumbling family relationships and changes to his
environment greatly disturb him and he tends to lash out in response to them.

This has
become one of my new favorite books. Having worked with children and young
adults with special needs I was fascinated by the insight the author provided
into Adam’s mind. I would imagine he must have some experience of his own in
his background to be able to write so well about Adam’s thoughts and feelings
from his viewpoint. The ending was heartbreaking and a tissue was needed which
for me is a sure sign of a well is written book. A must read for anyone dealing
with a disability.

The Maya Papyrus, written by Richard Coady,
immerses the reader into the age of the great line of kings that made Egypt so
famous. A hefty book at six hundred and fifty-nine pages on my ereader I was
initially a bit daunted by it but as soon as I started it I found the story so
engrossing that I could barely put the book down. The story centers on a
conniving woman, Thuya, who greedily wants to control the royalty of Egypt and
through the years she does just that, often manipulating her husband and
children into helping her. Also a part of the story is the tyrannical reign of
Akhenaten who feels himself a god, and his beautiful wife Nefertiti.

This is
a book filled with murder, mystery, romance and revenge. The story draws the
reader in and keeps them spellbound with the details of how life was lived
three thousand years ago. The research that obviously went into this book is
superb and brings Egypt and its people to life. This story will be loved by
those who have studied ancient history as well as anyone looking for a
thrilling family saga.

The
year is 2095 and the world is a very different place due to deadly diseases
that wiped out various parts of the population, severe climatic changes, and
huge advances in technology. One thing that stayed the same is the human need
for love and companionship which is what this book is about. It explores the
various relationships between a variety of characters that are all tied to each
other in one way or another. The main love story seems to be that of Pierre and
Isabelle. Pierre is a cult-like figure who preaches ways to make life more
enjoyable even though the world is in constant flux. Isabelle is a pretty
journalist who is being pursued by Julian, an acclaimed singer. To be honest I
really never liked any of the characters. Possibly due to the editing, I found
it hard to follow the story and therefore never really got to know the
characters. In my opinion, there were far too many to keep track of anyway. I
enjoyed the author’s ideas about what the future would look like and I really
enjoyed the beginning of the book. A story set in the future that dealt with
human relationships as opposed to futuristic war battles sounded great but the
numerous characters and the jumping around of the storyline meant that the
story never really panned out for me. By the end, the only love story I enjoyed
was between a man and his life-like robot. I really wanted to enjoy this book
but never really found it able to hold my interest.

As the title says, I suck at this whole blog thing but in my defense a series of unfortunate events led to my not writing a new one in roughly 7 months. First, the cord to my laptop died which led me to no computer. Since new cords cost more than my old beater lappie is worth I waited a long time before I found a guy who makes them and got one for a third of retail price. Then summer came. When you live in a place with literally 5-6 months of snow summer becomes pretty damn important. I give up my summer for no one or nothing. I read oodles (I think I made that word up) and did reviews but didn't post them due to another reason which will follow. I'll get those reviews up here within the next few days. I want to put them up in separate posts because if an other takes all that time to write a book (whether it's excellent or shredded and used for kitty litter) I can give them their very own blog post.The final reason is that I completely forgot everything about my blog, from the email address to the password. I have severe short-term memory loss, so bad that I have to carry sticky notes with me and write down things, such as "go turn off oven". If I didn't write it down, I would walk to the kitchen and do something else that slid into my mind. The doctors think this is what is commonly called "chemo brain" and mine is more severe because of my bad reaction to chemo. I have a huge notebook filled with everything I write down about different aspects of my life. It really irritates me because pre-cancer I had a memory like a steel trap. Now it's like a sea sponge. So I apologize profusely to all those wonderful writers who trusted me with their work. I am getting things done now!